“Wonderstruck”– Movie Review

At the midpoint of The 55th New York Film Festival, I attended The Centerpiece Screening of the new drama by Todd Haynes, “Wonderstruck”, starring Julianne Moore. 

Synopsis

When a Midwestern boy journeys to New York City to find his father, how will a similar quest by a little girl a half-century earlier wind up helping him?

Story

In 1977, Ben (Oakes Fegley) turned 12 years old; he resents his mother (Michelle Williams) because she’s very tight-lipped about his background – he’s never met his father and she won’t tell Ben the man’s name, where he lives or why he’s not around.  Shortly thereafter, Ben finds himself all alone in the world when his mother perishes from a car accident.  Snooping around his late mother’s bedroom, he finds something in her dresser drawer:  an old book that bears the title “Wonderstruck”.  Flipping the pages, he discovers a bookmark that appears to have the name of the bookstore where it may have been purchased, along with its Manhattan address and telephone number.   

Excited by this revelation, Ben decides to call the number on the bookmark – as it turns out, a fateful choice.  Just as Ben goes on the phone, a violent storm is erupts; a bolt of lightning strikes a telephone pole and the electrical charge travels down the wire and into the phone, hitting Ben and rendering him unconscious.  Later, he awakens in the hospital to learn that he is now deaf.  Undaunted by this setback, Ben flees the hospital and takes both the book and bookmark onto a bus from his home in Gunflint, Minnesota to New York City where he proceeds to try to find the bookstore. 

Fifty years prior, a little girl the same age as Ben had a similar experience.  Growing up  in Hoboken, New Jersey, Rose (Millicent Simmonds) is facing many hardships, not the least of which being that she is deaf like Ben – but unlike him, she was born that way.  Feeling lonely without her parents around, Rose runs off by herself to New York City to see if she can find her mother Lillian (Moore), a famous actress now starring in a play on Broadway.  But destiny takes over and Ben soon learns that Rose’s search magically converges with his own, although separated by decades.  Will Ben be able to unlock the mystery behind this girl and finally find his father?     

Review

Whether or not you will in fact find yourself wonderstruck by “Wonderstruck” may largely depend on some factors, such as to what degree you may be able to suspend your disbelief and also to what extent you are able to follow the story.  For many years now, Todd Haynes has reminded us what an incredibly gifted filmmaker he is (at this festival two years ago, his “Carol” was shown).  “Wonderstruck” has a somewhat complicated narrative, in some ways better suited to the popular novel on which it was based (author Brian Selznick also wrote the adaptation for the screen); making it into a film is an ambitious undertaking. 

With respect to the suspension of disbelief, there is a strong argument to be made that “Wonderstruck” is something of a fable; perhaps it’s better to regard it as being closer to a fairy tale than a serious drama based in some semblance of reality.  Looking at it in this fashion, one may be more forgiving when it comes to certain contrivances in the story.  As far as following the story is concerned, that may be another matter altogether.  Interestingly, the problem does not come so much with the intercutting between 1927 and 1977 scenes as it does with the clarity within each story’s individual narrative.  Curiously, Haynes shot the 1927 scenes in black and white and without sound, as if it was a silent film of that era.  

Is “Wonderstruck” for adults or children or both?  Some of the above observations may be considered caviling because this is not a bad film; it’s generally quite good, but not without some obvious flaws.  The argument in favor of seeing this movie would be that it is a good conversation starter; exactly what that conversation would be might depend on the the other party.  If you have a friend or family member (either child or adult) who is hearing impaired, “Wonderstruck” takes you into their world and it might be of use to get their reaction (the screening on this evening was open caption, so no special devices were needed to read the on-screen subtitles).  On the other hand, this might be a good motion picture for a child to see; its underlying message is about the value of family and how we better understand ourselves when we understand our parents.